More Renaissance Faire...

My friend Julie Anne and I travelled to the Maryland Renaissance Faire today (yes, "again," that Faire is big enough for fans to traverse it every weekend for the entire two months of its run and always fine new things to do.)

Today, I was on a quest--to find Faire garb of my very own so I could stop bumming bodices, blouses, and skirts from my girlfriends. As you see from the picture, I was most successful.

On the right, Julie Anne peeks over my shoulder as we take a break in the White Hart Tavern (that's her beer. I swear it is. What?!) for some rest and shade and the delightful sounds of our favorite Renaissance Faire band, the Pyrates Royale (that's them in the background).

Today I dined upon beef stew in a bread bowl (luscious, even in the heat), macaroni and cheese on a stick (deep-fried. Apply directly to your arteries--but die happy. That stuff was GOOD!) and a cone of mini-cookies and ice cold milk. Also filched an obscene number of thick chipped fried potatoes from Julie Anne (but I paid her back with two slabs of my fried mac'n'cheese.)

The Pyrates Royale are always a terrific show, but today, my favorite act was Wolgemoot (the pic on the left), a group of pipers, string-players (no idea what you call that instrument second from the left), and drummers whose performance is as funny as their music is heart-racing. Wish I could describe it. You can't help but clap or get up and dance.

I said it last week and I'll say it again this week--and probably next Sunday and the weekend after that...and the next...and the next...

If you happen to be within driving distance of Annapolis, Maryland between now and the end of October, pay the Renaissance Faire a visit. You will find yourself in another world where men kiss your hand, merchants say "g'day," and you find yourself dropping a curtsey as Henry VIII and Jane Seymour pass by. (Well, okay, there are stupid teenagers who prance around with bare midriffs and fairy wings, but that can't be avoided.)

Everything is beautiful; it's an exercise in decadence. You'll love every minute of it.